Forest River and Keystone RV Service and Repair in Chino, CA
Between them, Forest River and Keystone build more towable RVs than anyone, which is why so many of the trailers and fifth wheels parked around the Inland Empire wear one of their names. McBride's services them in Chino: body and panel repair on both aluminum-sided and laminated trailers, slide rooms, roofs, water damage, and full collision and paint in a 40-foot enclosed booth. Family-owned here since 1967. If you are not completely sure which model you own, that is normal on these two, and it is the first thing worth sorting out.
My trailer says Forest River. Which one do I actually have?
This catches people out, and it is worth two minutes of your time before you call anyone about a part.
Forest River and Keystone are both large parent companies that build through many semi-independent divisions and sub-brands, in different plants, with different component choices. Two trailers wearing the same parent name, bought the same year, can come out of different divisions and be built differently. So the name on the front of the trailer tells us far less than it would on a single-line builder, and "I have a Forest River" is not yet enough to answer a question about your trailer.
What does tell us: the model name and the data plate. The sub-brand and model, the year, and the details on the plate inside a cabinet door or in a compartment. With those we know what we are looking at. Without them, almost any answer about a part or a repair is a guess, and we would rather not guess at your expense.
A related point covered on our RV brands we service page is worth reading alongside this: much of what fails on any trailer was made by an outside supplier rather than by the company on the badge, which is often good news for parts.
Which Forest River and Keystone models do you work on?
All of them, travel trailers, fifth wheels and toy haulers alike.
Forest River, travel trailers and fifth wheels:
Cherokee, Wildwood, Salem, Rockwood, Flagstaff, Sabre, Sandpiper, Wildcat, Cardinal, Riverstone.
Forest River, toy haulers:
XLR, Vengeance.
Keystone, travel trailers and fifth wheels:
Montana, Cougar, Springdale, Passport, Hideout, Bullet, Outback, Laredo, Alpine, Arcadia.
Keystone, toy haulers:
Fuzion, Raptor.
There is no size in either lineup we cannot get into a bay or into the paint booth. If your model is not on that list it is almost certainly still one of theirs, because both companies run more lines than any list of this length can carry.
Is my trailer aluminum sided or laminated, and why does it change the repair?
This is the single most useful thing to understand about these two brands, because both build across the full price range and the answer decides what a body repair actually is.
Corrugated aluminum siding over a stick frame.
Common on the lighter and more affordable lines. The exterior is ribbed aluminum sheet, and the wall behind it is framed rather than bonded. Damage here dents and creases rather than cracking. The repair is usually a panel job: removing trim and fasteners, replacing or straightening the affected sheet, resealing, and matching the finish. The good news is that panels are workable and the material is forgiving. The catch is that a dented aluminum sheet cannot be filled and sanded like a body panel on a car, and a repair that is done that way will telegraph through the finish within a season.
Laminated fiberglass.
Standard on the higher lines and on most fifth wheels. The sidewall is a bonded sandwich with a smooth fiberglass skin. Damage here cracks, stars and can separate the bond rather than denting. The repair is a layup and refinish, then blending the paint into the surrounding panel so the repair does not read as a patch. It takes longer and it needs a booth, but done properly it is invisible.
Why it matters before you call your insurer.
These are not the same job, they do not take the same time, and an estimate built on the wrong assumption about your wall construction will be wrong. We identify which you have first, and we will show you the damage and explain which repair applies before anything is quoted. More on that work is on our RV paint and body repair page, and the 40-foot enclosed booth is what lets us finish a full-length trailer in one controlled pass rather than in halves.
One more consequence worth knowing: if water has been sitting in a laminated wall or floor, the bond itself can fail, and that is a structural conversation rather than a cosmetic one. Our RV floor repair page covers what is involved.
Where does the water usually get in on these trailers?
Almost never through the middle of the roof, which is where owners look first.
On a towable the entry points are the penetrations and the joints: vent and antenna flanges, the front and rear cap seams, the awning rail, and the seals around every slide room. Sealant shrinks and splits on its own schedule, driven by the sun rather than by how often you use the trailer, and a trailer that sits in a storage lot through an Inland Empire summer is being worked on by UV every day whether you are in it or not.
The practical habit that saves the most money is an annual look at every sealed joint, before a long trip rather than after a stain appears inside. By the time there is a stain on a ceiling or a soft spot on a floor, the water has usually been in the structure for a while, and the entry point is frequently nowhere near the stain because water travels along framing before it drops. Our RV roof repair and replacement page covers how a roof gets judged.
Slide rooms deserve their own mention, and the detail on how slide mechanisms and seals fail is on our Grand Design service page and our RV slide-out repair page rather than repeated here.
Do you work on toy haulers from these brands?
Yes. XLR and Vengeance on the Forest River side, Fuzion and Raptor on the Keystone side, plus the rest. A toy hauler carries loads and stresses the rest of the lineup does not, and the ramp, the garage and the onboard fuel and generator systems are their own subject. That is covered properly on our toy hauler repair page. Straight travel trailer work is on our travel trailer repair page.
Do you offer mobile RV repair or house calls?
No. Everything happens at 13788 Oaks Ave in Chino, and we do not send anyone to a home, a campground or a storage lot. On a towable that is not much of a restriction, because the repairs worth doing properly are the ones that need the trailer in a bay: pulling a slide room, working a sidewall, and anything involving paint. Tow it to Chino and the whole job happens in one place.
Frequently asked questions about Forest River and Keystone service
I do not know my sub-brand. Can you still help?
Yes. Send a photo of the data plate and a photo of the trailer and we can usually place it. That is a faster route than trying to remember what the dealer called it.
A tree branch creased the side of my travel trailer. Is that a panel job?
If it is aluminum sided, almost certainly, and the question is how far the crease runs and whether it crosses a seam or an opening. If it is laminated, it is a different repair entirely. We look before we answer.
Can you match the graphics and paint after a repair?
Yes, including matching into a finish that has already faded, which is the normal situation on a trailer that has lived outdoors here. That is what our color matching and the booth exist for.
Do I have to go back to the dealer I bought it from?
No. For manufacturer-covered repairs inside the coverage period the manufacturer decides where the work happens, so start there. Everything else, including collision, insurance work, body repair and anything you are funding yourself, is your choice of shop, and you are not tied to the selling dealer.
My trailer lives in a storage lot and only comes out twice a year. Does that help or hurt?
Both. It puts fewer miles and less wear on it, and it gives the sun uninterrupted access to every seal on the trailer. Low use is not the same as low maintenance.
Where are you?
13788 Oaks Ave, Chino, CA 91710, Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4 PM. We are near the junction of the 60 and the 71, which is a manageable tow from most of the Inland Empire, the 91 and 15 corridor, and North Orange County.
Hear From Our Satisfied Customers
They are always professional, courteous and they have resolved any and every issue I had.
Tow it over and we will go through it with you before anything is quoted. McBride's RV has been family-owned in Chino since 1967. Walk-ins welcome, or call (909) 627-7566.
McBride's RV Service & Paint, BAR ARD 314817, 13788 Oaks Ave, Chino, CA 91710, (909) 627-7566.